Tag: bird

A day spent paddling besides just being good clean fun allows you to see things from water level. Yes, these are birds we see from land, but while floating by in a kayak, seeing mergansers, red-necked grebes and bald eagles from the water provides us with a different perspective.

A common Merganser pair preens while perched on a log.

A Red-Necked Grebe pair courting and strengthening their bond.

An ever watchful immature Bald Eagle perched along the shore. All sighted we can see from land but when seen from the water make them just a bit more special.

Meet the local bully a Male Rufus Hummingbird. We typically only have Calliope Hummingbirds list our backyard feeder so it was a surprise, and a welcome one, to have this beautiful guy visit. It was a pleasure until we observed his bullying behavior. He would fly to the tree the feeder was hung from and perch on a hidden branch waiting for unsuspecting Calliopes to visit. He would then swoop down and chase them off. The funny part is that he seldom visited the feeder for a sip of nectar himself. Beautiful but quite the bully this Rufus guy.

While floating down a stretch of the Snake River in WY we startled this Sandhill Crane who was hidden in the grass on the river bank. They squawked a Sandhill Crane squawk and did a big jump of alarm but given the river was moving us right along they soon had the bank to themselves again.